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Actually, no, I won’t donate

I received this email from Howard Dean yesterday. Howard Dean is the chair of the Democratic party, and I signed up to be on their mailing list. Personally, I am registered independent, for some very good reasons. This is one of them:

Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney are done. John McCain will be the Republican nominee — he’s the only one with a reasonable path to the nomination.

So how do we beat him? We stand up — right now — start fighting, and show the American people that he’s not who they think he is.

We can’t wait for Hillary or Barack to win the nomination. Now that the Republicans have a candidate, the dollars are starting to pour in from special interests who will do anything to beat the Democratic nominee. They’re just waiting for us to decide so they can start smearing.

Here’s what U.S. News and World Report recently reported about how the RNC is getting ready…

[RNC Chairman Mike] Duncan and his aides want to be ready to go on the offensive against the Democratic nominee presumptive in an effort to define the opposition candidate on GOP terms. Opposition research is already well along, and the plan is for surrogates to talk to the media around the country while a TV ad campaign in key states and media markets as soon as the Democratic nominee is determined.

We must be ready to fight back, and fight back hard, today.

While I agree that the RNC and its muckrakers are going to leave no stone unturned in their attempt to discredit anyone in their way, I do not believe that an appropriate response is to return the volley. Howard Dean, I will not give you one coper penny to dig up dirt on John McCain. Sorry.

McCain is a human being as well as a politician. He has worked for many years on behalf of his constituents as well as on behalf of some respectable ideals.

The election is not a “battle”. We are not at war with each other over how to solve problems in the economy. Nobody “wins” when an election turns into a smear campaign.

We are a democratic nation whose intelligent and compassionate discourse has been overwhelmed by the language of combat. We are the only first-world nation whose citizens live in fear of ruination due to lack of proper health care, whose children are getting a sub-standard education, and whose corporate leaders are able to make enough bank to buy small pacific islands.

So. I refuse to support a group whose plan for the election is “dig up dirt first”.

Talk to me about the issues. Tell me what your plan is for health care, how you plan to gain support in Congress and with the American people to increase our safety net so that we may all have the opportunity to participate in the freedom and liberty that some can only see on bumper stickers. Get me excited to support you and you will have considerable resources at your disposal. Give me a straight answer for once.